3/20 WWE Smackdown in Charleston: Edge and Christian reunite to face Alberto Del Rio and Brodus Clay, Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel vs. Big Show and Kane for the WWE Taq Titles

WWE Smackdown Live Event
Charleston, WV at the Charleston Civic Center
Report by Dot Net Member Duane Carpenter (Jawbreaker)

The Charleston Civic Center holds about 12,500, the place was half full so I would estimate a crowd of around 6,000-7,000.

Tony Chimel entered the ring (along with referee Scott Armstrong) and welcomed us to Smackdown.

1. Big Show and Kane defeated Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel (W/ Wade Barrett and Ezekiel Jackson) by disqualification in 13:11 in WWE Tag Team Title match. Big Show and Kane came out individually and both received huge pops. The Corre was quite over as well getting some good heat. With Slater being from West Virginia, I thought they may play into that, but Chimel didn’t announce his hometown. He did however have several signs throughout the crowd.

Show and Kane dominated early while Slater and Gabriel played the cowards role. They finally took over working over Kane and his knee. Kane finally made the hot tag to Big Show as he took over. The Big Show went to chokeslam Slater but Barrett and Jackson interfered causing the disqualification. The Corre beat down on Kane and the Big Show before Kofi Kingston and Chris Masters came into the ring and made the save. They chased Corre to the back but the group left Jackson the in the ring. Kane the Big Show gave him a double chokeslam before exiting the ring. A very entertaining match to open the show.

2. Chavo Guerrero pinned Tyler Reks in 11:13. Chavo came out first to no reaction. He tried to do a babyface entrance getting fans to cheer, but the WWE really hasn’t given us a reason to like Chavo yet other than he told Vickie he wasn’t going to get her coffee anymore. Reks came out to even more silence than Guerrero did. A lot of stalling early on. The end of the match came when Reks had Chavo sitting in the corner and he went to the second rope for a superplex, but Chavo pushed him off the ropes and then hit a frogsplash for the win. Chavo did win over the audience and received a nice applause for his efforts after the match.

Tony Chimel introduced Rose Mendes as our special guest host for the night. She asked a small child who was the guest host for WrestleMania for a chance to be the guest bell ringer. He correctly answered the Rock. Duh!

3. Percy Watson pinned Curt Hawkins in 8:34. The crowd couldn’t have cared less about either guy. I thought the responses to Chavo and Curt was bad but it seemed like half the building had no clue as to who Percy and Curt were. Percy wrestled without the glasses and seemed to only show about half the charisma he did on NXT. Hawkins has an arrogance that works well for him in the ring. The end came out of nowhere. Watson hit a spinning neckbreaker on Hawkins and covered him for the pin.

4. Kofi Kingston pinned Cody Rhodes in a Triple Threat Match along with Drew McIntyre for the Intercontinental Championship in 8:23. Drew came out first and cut an interview saying that he didn’t have a WrestleMania match yet. He stated that would change after he beat Kofi for the belt. The microphone was cutting out on him so Chimel handed him a second one. In a great improv move, he looked bewildered at the two mics. He took one mic and said "I hate you," then grabbed the other mic and repeated "I hate you." For the next minute he kept belittling the crowd into one mic and then the other. Funny stuff.

Cody came out with a black towel over his head wearing his facemask and played to the crowd before Kofi came out to a really nice pop. Before the match started, Cody asked if Kofi and Drew would please not hit him in the face. Both men attack Cody and kick him out of the ring to start the match. Kofi really had his working books on in this match. He did an amazing suicide dive on Drew outside the ring. Later Kofi backed Cody into the corner and climbed to the second turnbuckle for the count-along from the crowd as he punched Cody in the face for a loud face pop. Kofi hit the trouble in paradise on Cody for the win. Great performance by Kofi and Drew and Cody played the foil to perfection.

During the intermission, Rosa returned with Hornswoggle. They gave the hard sell on buying The Chaperone DVD and WrestleMania on PPV before tossing out some t-shirts.

5. Layla pinned Beth Phoenix in 7:35. Layla came out alone, without Michelle McCool. Layla played to the crowd early. Typical WWE divas match. Beth used some nice power moves on Layla, including lifting her up over her head for a power slam. Layla rolled up Beth from the corner for the pin. After the match, Layla taunted Beth and wanted to shake Beth’s hand. Beth gave Layla the Glam Slam and left the ring.

6. Jack Swagger won by submission over Chris Masters in 9:03 with the ankle lock. Swagger took the mic when he entered the ring. He put Michael Cole over saying he would beat Lawler at WrestleMania. He then went for the cheap heat saying that we would have more time to watch Swagger on television since Kentucky beat WVU in the NCAA Tournament. He went on to mention how he made Masters tap ‘last Friday’ on Smackdown when Masters interrupted with his entrance to a really nice pop. Both men worked hard and put in an entertaining match. Like the Smackdown match, Masters went for the masterlock but Swagger reversed it for the ankle lock. Masters tapped out giving Swagger the win.

7. Edge vs. Alberto Del Rio for the World Heavyweight Championship. Chimel announced this was a title match. Edge came out to a massive pop only to be blindsided by Brodus Clay and Del Rio at ringside. Christian came out and made the save for Edge. Edge grabbed the mic and said he was tired of being jumped from behind by Clay and Del Rio and challenged the two to a tag team match which they accepted. Why Del Rio would give up a title match for a meaningless tag team match is beyond me…but I don’t write the show.

8. Edge and Christian pinned Alberto Del Rio and Brodus Clay when Edge pinned Clay in 19:02. Christian spent a majority of the match in the ring getting pummeled by Del Rio and Clay. After finally getting the hot tag, Edge cleared the ring of both Del Rio and Clay. Edge was going to hit the spear on Clay, but Del Rio grabbed his leg from the outside the ring tripping him up. With all four men in the ring brawling it out, Christian hit the Unpettier on Del Rio while Edge finally hit the spear on Clay for the win. After the match they celebrated at ringside with the fans for about a good 10 minutes.

Chimel thanked us for coming but did not give a return date for the WWE to Charleston.

Notes: The show started at 5 p.m. and they didn’t bother to open the doors until 4:15 p.m. and then they actually started the show five minutes early. It was a fun show that was pretty much in line with other Smackdown events that have been listed. With no Undertaker or Rey Mysterio, the show lacked a lot of star power especially after seeing the Raw MSG line-up. The crowd was a typical WWE crowd these days. Tons of little kids wearing their purple Cena shirts and Mysterio masks.

Biggest Pops
Edge
Big Show
Kane
Kofi Kingston

Biggest Heat
Alberto Del Rio
Jack Swagger
Drew McIntyre
Tie: Cody Rhodes/The Corre